Elahi defends expats’ voting right

Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has said that the right to vote is a basic right of overseas Pakistanis.

Speaking to former member of National Assembly (MNA) Chaudhry Nazir Jutt and his daughter Ayesha Nazir Jutt, who called on him, he said the ruling collation had snatched one of the basic rights of overseas Pakistanis through a bill passed by the National Assembly.

He said the rulers did not understand the significance of foreign remittances being sent by overseas Pakistanis in the national economy.

The speaker also criticised the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for not accepting elections through electronic voting machines (EVMs).

Pervaiz Elahi said the government had shown its real face through the use of police force against peaceful participants of the Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Haqeeqi Azadi March.

Hundreds of PTI workers and leaders had been arrested and fake cases
were registered against them, he said.

He asserted that the march led by former prime minister Imran Khan had remained successful despite all odds.

He underlined that the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) did not back out from the protest and stood with Imran Khan.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2022.